


The Marauders

by a_nonweasley_ginge



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bisexual Remus Lupin, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Fluff, Gay Sirius Black, Hogwarts, M/M, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Marauders' Era, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Pre-Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, Werewolf Remus Lupin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2019-09-06 00:21:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16821391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_nonweasley_ginge/pseuds/a_nonweasley_ginge
Summary: The entire story of the Marauders from Platform 9 and 3/4 in September 1971 to the first few days of November 1981.





	1. 1 September 1981 - The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of this will have text lifted straight from the Harry Potter books. Obviously I don't own this. I really wanted to write a story about the Marauders because I feel that their story, whilst tragic in many ways, is so compelling. I tried to keep it as canon as possible, hope you enjoy. This is my first attempt at fanfiction so I hope it's ok.

Platform 9¾ was bright and colourful, crammed almost to breaking point with families and excited friends reuniting after the long summer holiday. Trunks magically flew onto the train and cats wound their way round everyone’s feet. 

A family of four, well-dressed and stiff looking, all with dark hair, stood by the Hogwarts Express. The younger boy looked as though he were close to tears but was making a valiant effort of not letting himself cry. The man, Orion Black, was holding tightly onto Regulus’ shoulder. His wife, Walburga, stooped ever so slightly to straighten the older boy’s coat, brushing an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulder as she stood back up.  
“Goodbye Sirius. Make sure that you study hard, we wouldn’t want you to be a further disappointment for this family now, would we?” She sniffed haughtily.  
“Yes, boy. You have the reputation of our noble family to uphold. You are a pureblood after all, not some common mudblood.” He shook Sirius’ hand stiffly.  
Sirius dropped his hand quickly and took his trunk, moving quickly away onto the train without so much as a backwards glance to his parents or brother. 

“Now, you will write to us every day, won’t you? And remember of course to stay out of trouble!” Euphemia Potter blew her nose loudly on her handkerchief before enveloping James Potter in a bone-crushing hug, planting kisses on his cheeks.  
“Mum! Gerroff, you’re embarrassing me!” Came the boy’s muffled reply as he tried desperately to extricate himself from his mother’s embrace. He wriggled out of her arms and took his trunk from his father, his face burning bright red as he furtively looked around, making sure no one else on the platform had seen his mother’s embarrassing display of affection. A little way to his left stood a posh looking, dark-haired family in expensive robes. The eldest boy formally shook his father’s hand before boarding the Hogwarts Express. James turned back round to his parents, extending a hand to his father, like he’d seen the other boy do, only to be pulled into another fierce hug from his father. Laughing at James’ embarrassment, Euphemia and Fleamont Potter said their last good-byes to their son before waving him on to the gleaming scarlet train. 

A little way along the platform stood a slightly hunched boy next to a thin, sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly resembled him. The boy, Severus Snape, was staring at a family of four. The two girls stood a little apart from their parents. The eldest girl seemed to be pleading with her sister. “…I’m sorry, Tuney, I’m sorry! Listen-”. She caught her sister’s hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away. “Maybe once I’m there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I’m there, I’ll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!”  
“I don’t – want – to – go!” said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister’s grasp. “You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a –”  
Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owner’ arms, over the owls fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long, black robes, loading trunks on to the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart.  
“– you think I want to be a – a freak?”  
Lily’s eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away.  
“I’m not a freak,” said Lily. “That’s a horrible thing to say.”  
“That’s where you’re going,” said Petunia with relish. “A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy… weirdos, that’s what you two are. It’s good you’re being separated from normal people. It’s for our safety.”  
Lily glanced towards her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce.  
“You didn’t think it was such a freak’s school when you wrote to the Headmaster and begged him to take you.”  
Petunia turned scarlet.  
“Beg? I didn’t beg!”  
“I saw his reply. It was very kind.”  
“You shouldn’t have read –” whispered Petunia. “That was my private – how could you –?”  
Lily gave herself away by half glancing towards where Snape stood, nearby. Petunia gasped.  
“That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!”  
“No – not sneaking –” Now Lily was on the defensive. “Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn’t believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that’s all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of –”  
“Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!” said Petunia, now as pale as she had been flushed. “Freak!” she spat at her sister, and she flounced off to where her parents stood, leaving Lily standing alone with her eyes brimming with tears. She rubbed her eyes viciously as her parents turned to wave at their daughter. Forcing a smile she waved back, pulling her trunk onto the nearest carriage of the train. 

“Quickly Remus, or you’ll miss the train!” a flustered looking man with sandy hair said as he pulled Remus into a quick hug.  
“We’ll write to you every day; don’t you worry darling,” smiled his mother, Hope, though worry was evident in her hazel eyes.  
“Yes. Professor Dumbledore has everything sorted for you; there is nothing for you to worry about” murmured Lyall into his son’s ear.  
As he stood back, Hope leaned in and gently kissed her son’s forehead.  
“We’re so proud of you, my boy,” Lyall said, smiling and taking his wife’s hand as they waved a nervous looking Remus on to the train. 

James cautiously pulled the nearest compartment door open to find the dark-haired boy from the platform already sat there.  
“This seat free?” he asked.  
“Yeah, it is,” the boy said, getting up and holding out his hand to James. “I’m Sirius.”  
Beaming, James shook Sirius’ hand, “James.”  
“Do you want a hand with your trunk, James?” asked Sirius, returning the smile.  
“Yeah, if you don’t mind!”  
The two boys pushed James’ trunk onto the luggage rack before sitting down by the door.  
“Want some Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans?” James asked, thrusting his hand into the pocket of his trousers then holding out the cardboard box.  
“Go on then!” said Sirius, taking a handful and popping one into his mouth at the same time as James. “Grass,” he exclaimed, looking at James who was going redder by the second, then laughed.  
“Chili pepper,” choked James, tears forming in his eyes. As soon as the effect of the sweet wore off he was laughing alongside Sirius. The compartment door opened as another boy blustered in. He tripped over his own trunk and almost fell over. Straightening up he went bright red before murmuring, “Is there room in this compartment?”  
James and Sirius both laughed before Sirius replied that there was indeed room and James offered him some Every-Flavour Beans. “I’m James and this is Sirius.”  
“Davey,” replied the boy, smiling nervously as he took some beans, putting his trunk alongside James’ and sitting down beside Sirius.  
The compartment door opened again and a gloomy, red-headed girl cautiously popped her head in.  
“Is there room in here?”  
“Yeah, help yourself,” said James, indicating the seat by the window. Lily pushed her trunk above her head and sat, staring sadly out the window at the platform obscured by the steam of the engine.  
The others exchanged bemused looks before each popping another sweet into their mouths as the train pulled gently out of the station. 

Snape, dressed in his Hogwarts robes, stopped outside the compartment in which James, Sirius and Davey were talking. Hunched in the corner seat, Lily sat with her face pressed against the window pane.  
Snape slid open the compartment door and sat down opposite Lily. She glanced at him and then looked back out of the window. She had been crying.  
“I don’t want to talk to you,” she said in a constricted voice.  
“Why not?”  
“Tuney h – hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore.”  
“So what?”  
She threw him a look of deep dislike.  
“So she’s my sister!”  
“She’s only a –” He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.  
“But we’re going!” he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. “This is it! We’re off to Hogwarts!”  
She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.  
“You’d better be in Slytherin,” said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.  
“Slytherin?”  
James, who had shown no interest at all in Lily or Snape until that point, looked round at the word.  
“Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?” James asked Sirius who was lounging on the seats opposite him.  
Sirius did not smile.  
“My whole family have been in Slytherin,” he said.  
“Blimey,” said James, “and I thought you seemed all right!”  
Sirius grinned.  
“Maybe I’ll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?”  
James lifted an invisible sword.  
“‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!’ Like my dad.”  
Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.  
“Got a problem with that?”  
“No,” said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy –”  
“Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” interjected Sirius.  
James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.  
“Come on Severus, let’s find another compartment.”  
“Oooooo…”  
James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.  
“See ya, Snivellus!” a voice called as the compartment door slammed shut. 

The station at Hogsmede was bustling with people and the cries, squawks and squeals of animals added to the cacophony of noise, all robed in the billowing black of the school robes. Hagrid towered above them all, bearded and with a tangled mess of black hair.  
“Firs’ years! Firs’ years! That’s right, over here now. Gather round.”  
James and Harry, who’d lost Davey somewhere in the crowd, huddled closer to the giant. Lily and Severus stood towards the back.  
“Right now you firs’ years, yeh’ll get to Hogwarts o’er the lake. It’s four to a boat, so get into groups.”  
He led them through a wooded path to the shore of the lake. There was a small fleet of boats waiting there for them, with the great mass of the castle in the background. The water was lapping gently against the shore as they all climbed in.  
James and Sirius found themselves sitting in a boat with a small, ratty looking boy and a taller, scarred boy with sandy hair.  
“Everyone got a boat? Yeh all in? OK then, FORWARD!” boomed Hagrid.  
The little boats set off all at once, gliding across the surface of the lake. James stuck his hand into the water over the side of the boat, ripples flowing outwards and glittering as they caught to moonlight.  
“I heard there was a giant squid in the lake,” grinned Sirius.  
“T – there isn’t really is there?” squeaked the small boy, looking nervously over the side of the boat.  
“I’m sure it’s fine if there is,” the sandy haired boy replied. “They wouldn’t take first years over the lake if it would hurt us.”  
“Everybody, duck!” yelled Hagrid from the front.  
They all bent their heads down in the boats as they sailed under a thick curtain of ivy into a tunnel in the cliff. The boats stopped, scraping up against the pebbles and sand of an underground harbour. Following Hagrid, they all climbed out and made their way up a slightly damp smelling passageway until they emerged in the shadow of the castle.  
“Woah,” breathed Remus, standing next to James.  
“Everyone here, no one fell in? Right then.” Hagrid turned and knocked on the giant wooden doors of the castle three times, each knock echoing out across the grounds. 

The doors swung open, throwing light out onto the nervous huddle of students. A tall witch in emerald robes with a tall, pointy witches hat stood in the centre of the doorway.  
“Thank you, Hagrid,” she said, nodding to him before turning to address the waiting group. “I am Professor McGonagall. Now, if you’d make your way into the entrance hall.”  
She moved aside and the group cautiously flowed up the steps into the entrance hall. As they filled in there were gasps as everyone took in the sight of the enormous hall.  
“This way please.” Professor McGonagall called to them, leading them past another set of doors, through which escaped the low chatter of lots of people. She led them into a small chamber off the side of the hall.  
Once everyone had squashed into the small room, Professor McGonagall spoke to them all.  
“Welcome to Hogwarts. Through these doors is the Great Hall, where the start of term banquet will take place. However, before you can join the rest of the students at their tables you must be Sorted. The Sorting Ceremony will place you into one of four houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor,”- James nudged Sirius, who’d gone quite pale – “and Slytherin. Each house has produced outstanding witches and wizards and I’m sure each and every one of you will be a credit to your Sorted house. While at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family and you may earn – or lose – points for your house to go towards the House Cup, for which the winner is announced at the end of the school year. Now, please line up quietly into pairs.”  
James and Sirius crowded into the line as Remus and Peter filed in behind them.  
Professor McGonagall led the group into the Great Hall, which was brightly lit with hundreds of candles floating above four great tables. The ceiling was incredibly high and filled with thousands of stars set in a velvety sky. As the first years snaked their way into the hall, every pair of eyes turned to look at them. Remus tugged nervously at his collar, hunching down to avoid being seen.  
Professor McGonagall led the line to a stop just before the table at the front of the hall. There was a small wooden stool with a battered wizard hat placed on top. The hall went eerily quiet and a rip on the brim of the hat opened up like a mouth. Sirius looked at James, puzzled, who shrugged back.  
The Sorting Hat opened its mouth and started to sing.  
After it had finished, the whole hall broke out into applause. Sirius, clapping, nudged James and said, “bloody hell, wasn’t expecting that the happen!” James grinned back.  
“Now, I shall read out your names and one at a time you shall come up here and sit on the stool. Black, Sirius!”  
Sirius walked slowly up to the Hat and sat on the stool, his hands clenched. Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head and James held his breath. Sirius sat there, eyes closed tightly, until about a minute later the rip on the brim of the Hat opened and shouted –  
“GRYFFINDOR!”  
Sirius’ eyes flew open and he beamed, striding over to the Gryffindor table which was full of cheering people. James grinned over at him as he sat down next to a clapping second year boy.  
Professor McGonagall called out “Bones, Edgar,” who was sorted into Gryffindor.  
Catchlove, Greta was sorted into Hufflepuff and Cresswell, Dirk into Ravenclaw. Then, Evans, Lily was called. Lily walked forwards on trembling legs and sat down upon the rickety stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Sorting Hat on her head, and barely a second after it had touched the dark red hair the Hat cried, “GRYFFINDOR!” Snape let out a tiny groan. Lily took off the Hat, handed it back to Professor McGonagall, then hurried towards the cheering Gryffindors, but as she went she glanced back at Snape, and there was a sad little smile on her face. Sirius moved up the bench to make room for her. She took one look at him, seemed to recognise him from the train, folded her arms and firmly turned her back on him.  
Gudgeon, Davey and Prewett, Alice were both sorted into Gryffindor. As Alice ran happily over to the Gryffindor table, Professor McGonagall called out, “Lupin, Remus.” The sandy haired boy shuffled nervously over to the stool, shoulders hunched and head down. There were a few hushed whispers from the surrounding tables as people noticed his heavily scarred face. Professor McGonagall placed the Hat on Remus’ head where it promptly announced, “GRYFFINDOR!” and Remus happily ran over to the Gryffindor table, sitting next to Sirius. He looked up at the staff table, where Professor Dumbledore was clapping enthusiastically and beaming down at him, his eyes twinkling.  
McKinnon, Marlene was sorted next into Gryffindor then Meadowes, Dorcas was sorted into Ravenclaw.  
“Pettigrew, Peter,” was called and the small, ratty looking boy approached the stool. He sat and the Hat was placed on his head. As one minute then two passed, whispers started to crawl round the hall, getting louder as the time stretched towards five minutes.  
The second-year boy next to Sirius turned to whisper, “ruddy hell, he’s gonna be a Hatstall.”  
Finally, the Hat called out, “GRYFFINDOR” and Peter ran over to the table, sitting down opposite Remus.  
Professor McGonagall called, “Potter, James,” and James walked up to the stool. No sooner had the Hat touched his head, it called out, “GRYFFINDOR!” and James ran over to the Gryffindor table, high-fiving Sirius then sitting down next to Peter.  
Talkalot, Lucinda became Slytherin, Toots, Tilden a Hufflepuff and, Shingleton, Gaspard was also sorted into Slytherin. When only a dozen students remained to be sorted, Professor McGonagall called Snape. He walked up to the stool, placing the Hat on his head. “SLYTHERIN!” cried the Sorting Hat. And Severus Snape moved off to the other side of the Hall, away from Lily, to where the Slytherins were cheering him, to where Lucius Malfoy, a prefect badge gleaming upon his chest, patted Snape on the back as he sat down beside him.  
Once everyone had been Sorted and taken their seats, Professor Dumbledore stood and held up his hands for silence. Everyone turned to look at the Headmaster.  
“Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts. And welcome back to everybody else. Before the feast we have but a few things to take care of. First, Mr. Filch asks me to remind you that magic is not permitted in the corridors and that should he see any student using it between lessons, there will be – shall we say – severe consequences,” he winked down at them all. “The consequences will also be severe to any student who enters the Forbidden Forest, which is strictly off limits. Finally, because I’m sure you are all ravenous, our final notice pertains to a new tree on the school grounds. This year we have introduced a rare but dangerous Whomping Willow to the school. It will be highly useful in some OWL and NEWT studies yet is quite deadly. Unless you wish to die a rather violent and painful death, I suggest you steer well clear of it. So, without much further ado, EAT!”  
Suddenly the plates were filled to bursting with every type of food imaginable.  
James piled his plate high with Yorkshire puddings and sausages, while Sirius practically emptied a plate of mashed potato in front of him onto his own, the plate being refilled as soon as he put down back in the middle of the table.  
Remus, meanwhile, was making his way through a particularly raw steak with plenty of parsnips on the side.  
James turned to Peter and asked round his Yorkshire puddings, “How come the Hat took so long to sort you?”  
Peter shrugged, “Dubbo, i’ wamded to puh me n Siherim.”  
Sirius laughed, “What was that?”  
Peter smiled sheepishly before swallowing and repeating, “I said, not sure. Didn’t feel like five minutes though.”  
“Mine felt like it took hours” said Remus quietly.  
“Dunno why, you already look like you’ve been out fighting Dark Wizards!” said James, grinning.  
Remus went pink and looked down.  
Sensing he’d put his foot in it, James amended quickly, “Sorry mate, I just meant that you look like a proper Gryffindor!”  
Looking up, Remus gave James a small smile.  
“My parents are going to be so disappointed in me for not being in Slytherin,” Sirius said, twirling his fork in his hand.  
“Nah, mate, I wouldn’t worry. You’re better off without them anyway if they’re all in Slytherin!” James said to him.  
The plates cleared, only to be refilled with cakes, sticky toffee pudding, apple, rhubarb and bramble crumbles, trifles and eclairs.  
Piling even more food onto their plates, which had magically cleaned after the main course, the four boys laughed, getting to know one another for the rest of the feast.  
Once everyone had eaten almost to the point of bursting, the last few remaining morsels of food faded away from the plates. Dumbledore stood, gesturing for quiet again.  
“Well, everybody, if you can manage to move after that truly marvellous spread would you please make your ways to your dormitories. First years, your house prefects will lead the way. Now, all of you to bed, and goodnight!”

Groaning and clutching their stomachs, Sirius, Remus, James and Peter followed the Gryffindor prefects through the maze of corridors alongside their fellow Gryffindor first years. After what seemed like miles, they all stopped in front of a portrait of a fat woman in a pink dress. The prefect, Patrick O’Doherty, said the password, “Gratissimum” and the first years clambered through the hole in the wall into the Gryffindor common room. It was a large, round room, draped in red and gold tapestries depicting knights and fair maidens as well as lions. There was a fire crackling away in the fireplace and squashy chairs clustered around.  
“Girls dormitories are through that door there, and boys, you are up there on the right,” Patrick said, pointing to the respective dorms.  
The four boys climbed up a spiral staircase to their room. This too was round, with five, four-poster beds circling the walls. Each had heavy red curtains round it and five trunks stood at the foot of each.  
“Niiiice!” James exclaimed as he launched himself onto the end of his bed in the middle of the semi-circle. Sirius sat down on his, next to James’.  
“I’m so full I don’t think I’ll ever be able to walk properly again!”  
Remus, who had fallen face down on his bed, groaned in agreement.  
Davey walked through the door and over to his bed.  
“If the food is always that good, I’m gonna have to charm myself and float to lessons because I’ll be too fat to get anywhere!”  
The other boys laughed and agreed.  
“Anyone for Exploding Snap?” asked James.  
The others agreed and sat in a circle on the carpet next to the heater.  
Much to all the other boys’ surprise, Remus turned out to be fiercely competitive, narrowly beating James in a running tally of 8 games. Finally, the five boys pulled on their pyjamas and climbed into bed, falling asleep as soon as their heads touched their pillows. Well, all except Remus. He lay in bed listening to the others breathing in their sleep, smiling. He had friends. Hogwarts was already shaping up to be better than he’d imagined.


	2. Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Marauders start to settle into their first month of Hogwarts, making friends and enemies as well as getting to grips with lessons and a certain 'furry little problem'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry this has taken sooooo long to upload. I lost the memory stick this was written on and being the total prune that I am, I didn't make a copy. Hopefully, it won't take this long again.

Remus woke to the sound of people moving around. He kept his eyes shut as tightly as he could, terrified to open them in the fear that last night would be a dream.  
Suddenly there was the sound of curtains being ripped violently open to his right. He took a cautious peek out from under his eyelashes, keeping his eyes as tightly closed as possible.  
“Come on Remus! I’m starving and need food before I waste away!”  
Remus’s eyes flew open, falling on Sirius who was standing with his hands on his hips.  
Remus grinned, jumped out of bed and quickly dressed.   
James was sleepily pulling on socks sat on the bed opposite him, occasionally shooting angry glares at Sirius, muttering under his breath about bad decisions and how he would be more careful about who he sat with on trains from now on!

Eventually, all five boys were ready. They set off for the Great Hall, getting a bit lost around the second moving staircase.  
“I’m telling you – it’s this way!” James exclaimed, pointing to a corridor five feet above their heads.  
“It can’t be though, that’s the way to the Astronomy tower,” Remus offered.  
“How do you know that?” Sirius asked, surprised.  
Grinning, Remus pointed up to a brass plaque that read ‘Astronomy Tower’.  
“Well, I’m no genius but I would hazard a guess and suggest that that – might – be the Astronomy Tower.”  
James made a huffing sound and the rest laughed good-naturedly at him.   
Thankfully, a Ravenclaw using the staircase turned to them and asked if they were lost. The five boys admitted that they were lost and would indeed like some help.

After being led by the Ravenclaw, the boys arrived at the Great Hall. The house tables were absolutely bursting with bacon, sausages and scrambled eggs. There were huge wracks of toast running the lengths of the tables and steaming bowls of porridge. Sirius lept onto the bench at the Gryffindor table and started piling his plate high with bacon and sausages, stuffing a slice of hot, buttery toast into his mouth as he did. The rest of the group sat down around him, piling their own plates high and pouring glasses of orange and pumpkin juice. Professor McGonagall walked down the Gryffindor table, passing timetables to each of the five. Sirius leaned over, looking at James’ timetable.  
“Are they the same?” he asked, holding up his next to James’.  
“Looks like it. Double Transfiguration first today, then Herbology this afternoon.”  
“That’s the same as mine. D’you have Potions after lunch on Tuesday?” Remus added.  
Both James and Sirius nodded.  
“What about you Peter? Is yours the same?” Remus slid his timetable across the table to Peter who looked at it and nodded.  
“Cool!” James exclaimed, grinning at the others. “Hey, Davey! You got Transfiguration now?”   
Davey, who was talking animatedly to a Hufflepuff on the next table looked around, startled.  
“Um, yeah I think so. You?”  
Sirius nodded, holding up his timetable so Davey could see.  
Davey gave him a thumbs up before turning back round to talk to the Hufflepuff across the aisle. 

As soon as they had finished their breakfasts, the five boys set off to Transfiguration. After getting incredibly lost they finally stumbled into the classroom, where the faces of their fellow Gryffindors whipped round to stare at them.  
Remus blushed bright red and hunched down, trying to make himself as small as possible. Peter hid behind the considerably taller boy.   
Professor McGonagall stopped writing on the blackboard at the front and looked at the five over her glasses.  
“Kind of you to finally join us. Would you please fill in the empty seats – quietly – and then take out your parchment and quills.”  
James and Sirius took a desk at the back, Davey took an empty seat next to Lily Evans at the front and Peter and Remus a desk behind that.  
Remus immediately took out his parchment and started furiously scribbling down the notes on the board, determined to make up for his tardiness.   
At the front Professor McGonagall put down her chalk and turned to face the class.   
“I shall repeat what I told those who managed to arrive here on time for those who were late: anyone messing around in this class will leave and they will not return. Transfiguration is a dangerous form of magic and can have truly horrendous repercussions if abused. Right then, the instructions for today’s lesson are on the board. Once you have finished copying what is on the board into your notes, raise your hand and I shall come round and give you a matchstick which you may then attempt to transfigure into a needle.”  
By the end of the lesson no one had succeeded in turning their matchstick into a true needle but Sirius and Lily had both managed to make their matchsticks pointier and silver. Professor McGonagall held them up to the class at the end and congratulated them. Sirius smirked whilst Lily glared at him behind McGonagall’s back.   
The rest of their lessons were much the same as Transfiguration. The professors gave them notes on what the subjects were and what not to do if they were handling dangerous plants or potions. History of Magic, the boys soon discovered, was the worst subject, taught by a truly yawn-inducing ghost called Professor Binns.   
It became apparent pretty quickly that both James and Sirius were exceedingly bright, often being the first to master spells and charms, or else second only to Lily Evans, in every lesson – that is, every lesson expect Potion where, much to the disgust of both and James and Sirius, Snape was clearly the best in the class. In the boys’ first flying lesson it took James a whole 3 seconds to summon his broom and Sirius was the first to float his feather in Charms. Remus, too, was sharp, not far behind the other two boys, whereas Peter was in no way on the same level as the others, often needing help from the other boys. Davey began to hang out with the Hufflepuff boy he had been talking to at breakfast on the first day, talking at length to him about something called ‘James Bond’, a type of story-portrait that none of the other four boys understood and a game that seemed to include hitting a ball with your foot.   
Soon though, Sirius and James became bored with lessons, talking and joking around in class instead. They both seemed to relish in making others laugh. This quickly progressed until they started thinking up schemes and practical jokes. Emboldened by their blooming popularity things quickly got more and more extreme. In the boys’ third week at Hogwarts, James and Sirius released Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder in the Girls’ Prefect bathroom, causing a stream of shrieking, towelled prefects to come running out only for them to slip on the wet floors, landing in a heap.   
In addition to the Darkness Powder, several Dungbombs also managed to inexplicably find their way into the Slytherin Common Room, leaving the entire of Slytherin House smelling of rotten eggs for the rest of the day.   
Remus felt uneasy at the thought of helping James and Sirius cause mayhem and mischief throughout the castle, especially whenever he thought of Dumbledore and all that he had done for him. But then a grin would start to spread across his face as he thought of how funny his new friends were, a grin that would widen when he thought also of how his friends liked him and made sure he was included in everything they did. Remus had never really had friends before Hogwarts. His parents had kept him away from other children out of fear that they would find out what he was. 

However, there were two people who did not find the four boys so charming, and they had no qualms in showing their hatred and distaste at every available moment.   
Severus Snape and Lily Evans were inseparable. They would walk to all shared lessons together and would often hole themselves up in an empty corner of the library. It seemed that Severus hadn’t forgotten the mean comments made by James and Sirius on the Hogwarts Express. During their third Potions lesson, a double period after lunch on Tuesday, he got his revenge. Sirius and James, who had both finished their potion well ahead of the rest of the class, except for Lily and Snape, were desperately trying to salvage Remus and Peter’s potion, which Peter had accidentally knocked an entire jar of Doxy eggs into, causing it to give off loud burps every few seconds along with the foul smell of rotting cabbage. After spending 20 minutes trying, and failing, to rescue their friends, they returned to their desk to give their own potion a final stir. All of a sudden there was a huge whoosh as the entire contents of their cauldron lept out, splashing all over the two boys. Thick, wiry hair began to sprout from their nostrils and eyebrows instantly, rapidly getting longer and longer until they were both tripping over it. The class around them were howling whilst Snape sat smugly next to Lily, who looked bewildered, at the front. Slughorn hurried over from the front and waved his wand at the boys, whose extra hair seemed to be sucked back into the roots. They both took a deep, over-the-top bow before joining in with the laughter. Snape glowered as they caught his eye. 

Later that night in the boy’s dormitory the four discussed the potions class, sat on James’ bed sharing a packet of Bertie Bot’s Every Flavour Beans.   
“It was definitely Snivellus, I saw him glowering at us afterwards,” Sirius told the others.   
“Yeah, only he’d be able to do it, even I couldn’t work out what went wrong with that potion,” James replied, ratching through the packet of Beans for an innocent looking one.   
“He is the best at potions in our year,” Remus mused, scratching his head.   
“This deserves a really good comeback I reckon,” Sirius said, grinning wickedly.   
“What have you got in mind?” asked James.  
“Well… he clearly chose potions because it’s the one lesson he’s better than us in,” Sirius started, “and I know it’s not hard to find a lesson we’re better than him in but I think it should be the class he is the worst at.”  
“That’s gotta be flying,” Remus finished, “his boom actually hit him in the face when he summoned it.”  
“Exactly!” Sirius replied, pointing and grinning at Remus, who smiled shyly back, blushing slightly.   
“Ohh, and you guys were the best with your brooms too!” said Peter through a mouthful of sweets.   
“That doesn’t answer my question mate, we still need a plan,” James interjected.   
“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m coming to that” tutted Sirius, selecting a lime green sweet and popping it airily into his mouth. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to break into where the school brooms are kept. We could charm his broom, embarrass him during out next flying lesson.”  
“I can see a few issues with that though,” James replied.   
“Yeah, how will you make sure he chooses the charmed broom – and our next flying lesson is tomorrow?” Remus asked.  
“I’ll do it as he’s choosing his broom then,” Sirius said, shrugging.  
“Hmmm, that’s risky, mate,” James said, rubbing his chin.  
“Pah, I’ll be fine. It’ll be great – you’ll see!” Sirius beamed.

The next day the first year Slytherins and Gryffindors huddled in two distinct groups on the lawn in the castle courtyard next to a pile of the school brooms. Madam Hooch the flying teacher strode towards them, her cloak billowing out behind her.   
“Good morning class.” She said, surveying the group before nodding and pulling a whistle from the front of her robe.   
“We have now successfully covered broom care, broom safety and broom summoning. Therefore, god help us, today we are moving on to hovering. And” – she glared around at the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins, raising a finger to point at the group – “if I see anyone playing silly buggers on their broom they will be banned immediately from this class and will be severely punished for their stupidity. Do I make myself clear?”   
The class nodded quickly and there were a few murmured ‘yes Miss’s’.   
“Good. Please, could everyone grab a broom from the pile beside me and then form two lines facing one another. Place your brooms on the ground beside you.”  
The Gryffindors and Slytherins rushed forwards, trying to get to the good brooms before they were all gone. Remus glanced at Sirius who was bizarrely hanging back, just in front of Snape and Lily who had predictably stayed behind the rest of them, waiting for the group to clear before choosing their brooms. As the crowd around the brooms started to thin, Sirius ambled over, allowing Lily and Snape to get ahead of him as the three made their way over to the brooms. Remus chose his broom, purposefully brushing past Sirius as he went to take his place in the line between James and Peter.  
“Be careful!” He warned. Sirius merely winked at him. Remus watched as he strode up to Snape, keeping behind him as he picked his broom. Grimacing, he saw Sirius slip his wand out and mutter something, casting his spell on the broom before quickly slipping his wand back into his pocket and casually picking up the remaining broom. He strode over to James, Remus and Peter in their line, falling in next to James and Remus. James gave Sirius a subtle low-five.   
Madam Hooch blew her whistle to get the attention of the chattering first years. “Alright then, on my next whistle, I would like you all to do a quick 60-second check over your brooms, just like we learned.” She blew her whistle again and the group quickly inspected their brooms for scratches or bent tail-twigs. Out of the corner of his eye, Remus could see Sirius glancing over at Snape and James trying to hide his grin. Madame Hooch blew her whistle, calling for silence. “OK then, everyone’s broom in fine fettle? Good. Now on my next whistle, we are going to summon our brooms. Go.” She whistled again and the courtyard was full of ‘UP!’s. James’ broom flew straight up into his hand first time, as it had during their last lesson. Snape was the last person to summon his. As it rose it released a huge, rolling fart which rippled through the quiet class. He turned bright red as everyone started to laugh. Madam Hooch’s whistle pierced through the noise. “OK class, that is enough. If you would kindly keep any wind to yourself, Severus, while in my class, that would be best. Thank you. Now, when I whistle next I want everyone to mount their brooms and push off gently from the ground. Keep the handle level or you will go straight up.” She blew her whistle again and suddenly the air was full of shrieks and laughter as people rose into the air. Snape, who was still red and who had started muttering under his breath, was the last to kick off. Everyone stared at him as he shakily rose into the air, his broom farting continuously. The class roared as he went an even brighter shade of red under his lank, greasy fringe. He glared at James and Sirius who were laughing along with the group. When they saw his face, red and shiny, they laughed harder, which only served to make Snape angrier. Shaking with anger Snape leant back on his broom, accidentally bringing the handle of the broomstick up too high. Suddenly he shot up, the tone of the farting changing to a high-pitched squeak. The class laughed as he rose up above the rooves of the buildings surrounding the courtyard. Madam Hooch flew after him, catching him and bringing him down to the ground. Setting him down she looked up at the laughing class.   
“Well class, as we clearly have a defective broom, this class will be cut short while I ascertain what has gone wrong with it. Please return to the ground by gently lowering the handles of your brooms. Thank you.”  
As soon as the class landed, Lily ran over to Severus, who was furiously glaring at James and Sirius. They grinned back at him. 

The class cleared out of the courtyard, the four boys following a few paces behind.   
“That worked better than I thought!” Sirius said to the group, grinning.   
“Yeah! My sides hurt from laughing!” Remus replied. “I just can’t believe you got away with it, Sirius.” He said, laughing again.   
“Nice one, mate,” James said, punching Sirius lightly on the shoulder.  
“Where did you get the spell?” Asked Remus.  
Sirius waved his hand airily, “my cousin gave it to me.”   
“It was groovy,” Peter said, looking at Sirius in awe.  
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. No one questioned Sirius about the broom. Madam Hooch hadn’t considered that a First Year would be capable of casting a jinx like the one on the broom right under her nose so Sirius got away with it. It was, however, all that the Gryffindor First Years talked about for the rest of the day. 

Unfortunately, Remus’s new found happiness was to be short-lived. His first month at Hogwarts had been like something out of a dream. He’d never dreamt that he would ever be able to go to school and be amongst people of his own age; people who liked him, who were his friends. He was brought crashing down to reality when Madam Pomfrey summoned him at the end of his fourth week of school. He sat in her office, pulling at a loose thread on the sleeve of his school robe. She looked over her desk at him.   
“As I’m sure you are aware, the first full moon of the school term is approaching.   
Remus’ heart sank. He had known this was coming but hadn’t expected the words to hit so hard when they came. His warm bubble of school and friends burst.   
“As I’m sure Professor Dumbledore told you when he visited you during the summer, I will be aiding you each month during the full moon. I will meet you here just before moonrise tomorrow and escort you to where you will be transforming. You must be here at 5 pm, Remus.”  
“Yes, Madam Pomfrey.”  
“Goodbye, Remus.” She smiled kindly at him as he turned to go. 

He walked solemnly back to the Gryffindor common room where his friends were playing a game of Exploding Snap by the fire. Looking at them his stomach twisted as he thought of what they’d say or do if they ever found out what he was. He was about to slip past and go straight to bed when Sirius called over to him.  
“Hey, Remus! Over here!”  
Remus smiled thinly at them as he moved towards the fire.   
“Fancy a game?” James grinned at him, dishing the cards out into four piles. Remus nodded absently, his mind whirring.  
“Hey, are you alright Remus?” Sirius asked gently, placing a hand on Remus’ shoulder.   
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Had a letter from my mum,” he said quickly, staring hard at his pile of cards. “She’s not very well.”  
“That’s grim, mate,” James said sincerely.   
“Yeah,” said Sirius, squeezing Remus’ shoulder. “Hope she gets better soon.”   
Remus nodded at them all, pushing his cards across the table towards James he stood up. “I think I’m just going to go straight to bed actually. See you in the morning.”   
He rushed off and up the stairs to the boy’s dormitory. 

Once inside, Remus sat down with a thump on his bed, rubbing angry tears from his eyes. Why did this have to happen to him! He looked up to see the nearly full moon seeming to glare at him through the dorm window. Gloomily he stood up, changing quickly for bed before throwing himself on top of the covers and angrily jamming the curtains around his bed shut.   
He lay there, staring into the gloom for hours until he heard the others coming up to bed. He heard them quietly talking and joking as they got changed, his mind twisting the half-heard whispers until he could hear them talking about him and about what a monster he was, about how they couldn’t be friends with him anymore. He blinked back more tears as it went quiet before turning over and falling into an uneasy sleep.

Remus woke the next morning from a dreadful dream. He’d dreamt that a wild animal had broken into the dorm while they slept. He’d heard it growling and trying to find him as he lay in his bed, terrified that the animal would hear his racing heartbeat. He took a shaky breath in, his heart still thudding in his chest. Sirius’ head popped through the curtains to his right.   
“Morning, Remus. How’re you doing?”   
Remus grinned shakily at him, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. “Yeah, I’m fine. Starving though! What’re you doing standing around, I need breakfast!”   
Sirius grinned back at him, relieved, before disappearing behind the curtain again. Remus’s grin slipped from his face; his palms sweaty as he thought about that night. 

At breakfast, Remus received an owl, a letter from his parents wishing him luck for the full moon and telling him that they loved him. He quickly closed the letter, hiding it from his friends.   
“I’ve got to go home this weekend. My mum’s got worse and my dad says she wants me there.”  
The other three boys looked sympathetically at Remus.   
“What time are you going?” Asked Sirius.   
“I have to go at 5 o’clock tonight.”  
“I have some sweets you could have for the train journey,” Peter said, smiling at Remus who smiled back sadly.   
“Thanks, Peter but I’ll be ok.”   
Remus stared at his plate, pushing his scrambled egg around the plate absently. The other three boys exchanged awkward glances over his head. 

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. All too soon it was 10 to five. He said goodbye to his friends in the common room and climbed out of the portrait hole. His heart hammed in his chest, making his ears thud with the force of it. At some point during the day he’d picked up a splitting headache and the pain combined with the noise of his heart in the silent corridors only made him dizzy. The closer he got to the hospital wing, the harder it seemed to be to breathe. He walked through the heavy doors, which had been left open for him, taking shuddery breaths as he waited for Madam Pomfrey to come out of her office. She bustled out moments later, carrying an unlit lantern, a long staff and a small vial of sky-blue potion.   
“Good evening, Remus. I’m afraid I can’t make what is to come any easier but if you drink this it will make it seem less daunting.” She handed him the potion, which he tentatively swallowed. As soon as it was gone, he took a deep breath in, which seemed to reach right down his arms and legs. His heart slowed down and he was filled with a sense of calm.   
Madam Pomfrey smiled down at him. “Better?”   
He nodded and she took her wand out, lighting the lantern. “Well then, we’d best get going.”  
She led him out of the hospital wing and through the castle until they reached the entrance hall. Professor Dumbledore was waiting for them. He nodded at Remus and gave him a kindly smile, his eyes glinting behind his half-moon spectacles. With a wave of his hand, he opened the enormous doors and Madam Pomfrey and Remus slipped through into the twilight grounds beyond. She led him across the grounds to the Whomping Willow where she paused to poke a knot on the trunk with the staff. The branches, which until then had been swaying gently despite the still night, suddenly froze and Madam Pomfrey gently ushered Remus under them and towards a hole in the roots.   
“Down you go, dear.” She said, holding the lantern up so that he could see the tunnel entrance. He slipped carefully down the earthy slope, landing on dry leaves. Madam Pomfrey slipped down behind him with the lantern seconds later, revealing a low, narrow passageway that wound on for what looked like quite a distance. Remus and Madam Pomfrey stooped to avoid hitting their heads on the roof of the tunnel and carefully made their way along it, walking for what felt like miles. Eventually, the tunnel began to slope upwards, leading to a patch of grey gloom. In the light of the lantern, Remus could see a small, dark room. There was furniture scattered about and the windows had been boarded up. Remus stood and stared at the house. Madam Pomfrey moved about the room, her wand raised, lighting the candles in brackets along the walls until the room was full of a dim, warm glow. Madam Pomfrey tucked her wand back into her robes and brushed off her hands, turning back to Remus.   
“If you want to take off any clothing you wish to keep safe, I will take it back to the castle with me.”   
Remus nodded jerkily. The shaky, thudding feeling was starting to come back, despite the potion. He started to take off his school robes, folded them and placed them on a table in the middle of the room. He unlaced his shoes and placed them next to his uniform on the table. He was shaking slightly from the cold now too, standing just in his boxers, vest and socks. Madam Pomfrey picked his clothes up, tucking them under her arm. She picked up the lantern, turning to Remus.   
“I will come and collect you at dawn and take you back to the hospital wing to recover. Good night Remus.” She disappeared back down the tunnel, leaving Remus alone. 

He wandered around the house to take his mind off his impending transformation, finding a few more rooms, all furnished in mismatching pieces. One room upstairs even had a huge four-poster bed in it. After what felt like an age of waiting, Remus began to feel the first aches in his bones that signalled the start of the transformation. His breath came in sharper gasps, whistling through his clenched teeth and the pain wracked his body in waves. His bones creaked alongside the house, cracking and reforming as he screamed until eventually, he could think no more and the wolf stood in his place.   
All night the wolf howled and scratched, destroying the furniture and trying fruitlessly to claw its way out of the house. As morning came and the wolf receded, Remus sat slumped against the wall of the upstairs bedroom. He hugged his knees, his clothes gone, spread around the room and torn to shreds. The drapes on the bed were tattered and there was a great deal of blood on the floor from some particularly deep bites and scratches. He hugged his knees tighter as tears rolled down his cheeks, leaving lines through the blood that had been smeared across his face during the night.   
Footsteps on the landing jolted him from his thoughts and his head snapped up to see Madam Pomfrey stepping quietly through the door. She knelt down and placed a warm cloak around his shoulders, pulling him gently to his feet.   
“Come on then, lad. It’s still mostly dark so no one will see us as we go back if we hurry. That’s it.”  
She led him gently out of the shack and back down the tunnel to the castle grounds. The castle was quiet and still as Madam Pomfrey led Remus back to the hospital wing. She dressed his wounds, covering them in a thick ointment she said would minimise scarring. She then gave him some clean hospital pyjamas, tucked him into bed and told him to sleep. She put up screens around his bed to shield him from view should anyone else visit the hospital wing and he drifted slowly into an exhausted sleep. 

He stayed in the hospital wing all Saturday and Sunday, finally being allowed to go back to his bed in the Gryffindor boy’s dorm on Sunday evening. When he entered the room, James, Sirius and Peter lept up.   
“Remus, are you ok?” James asked, concerned. He looked his friend up and down, noticing the dark circles under his eyes which stood out against his unusually pale skin and the scar down the left side of his jaw which he could have sworn wasn’t there on Friday.   
Remus nodded, “Yeah I’m fine. Travelling really tires me out, that’s all.”  
“How’s your mum?” Sirius asked, also taking a good look at his friend’s worn appearance.   
“She’s much better, thanks,” Remus replied, trying a small smile.   
His friends all rushed to embrace him, James grinning as they pulled apart.   
“You missed a great weekend, mate!” He said.   
“Yeah, we overheard Filch telling Mrs Norris to take a secret passageway in the castle in order to reach the Astronomy tower before someone who was planning to drop dungbombs off it onto people in the grounds got there,” James said, his voice raised in excitement.  
“We asked a few fifth years and a seventh year about it and the seventh year said that he’d heard that there are a few secret passageways that only filch knows about. Apparently, there are rumours that some even lead all the way to Hogsmeade!” Sirius finished, equally excited. “If we find this passage we could sneak down it and get sweets at Honeydukes, or better yet, supplies from Zonkos’!”  
Remus grinned, relieved. He’d been playing out this reunion in his head all weekend and every time it had ended in his friends accusing him of being a monster and telling him they no longer wanted anything to do with him.  
“I take it you have a fairly good idea where this secret passage is then?” He asked, his heart lighter in his chest.   
“We have a few ideas. It has to be on the fifth floor. That’s where we were when we overheard Filch…” James continued to outline the plan for finding the passage, Sirius occasionally chiming in with ideas and Peter squeaking every now and then at the mention of sweets. Remus sat on James’ bed with the other three, grinning blissfully as he looked at his friends, happier than he had imagined that he would be that morning.


	3. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Typical Marauder stuff but they still smol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any grammar/spelling issues please let me know and please leave kudos if you're enjoying so far x

No more was spoken about Remus’s ‘trip home’ after that Sunday night. The next morning at breakfast the shocking news being whispered up and down the house tables was about the war. More people had been reported missing. It had been emblazoned on the front of the Daily Prophet that a wizarding family from Edinburgh had all disappeared. According to the Prophet, the family had been outspoken critics of both He Who Must Not Be Named and the Ministry of Magic’s handling of the war. Rumours flew around all week as to whether it was the Death Eaters that had killed them or the Ministry.   
“That’s ridiculous!” James exclaimed loudly at tea when he was told about the rumours. “Why would the Ministry want to get rid of people who were warning witches and wizards about You-Know-Who?”   
Remus muttered darkly into his steak pie, “The Ministry is quite adept at… removing people it doesn’t like,” he said.   
“My family are only worried about what these disappearances will mean for them. My father thinks it’s the perfect chance to try to seize more power at the Ministry. True Slytherins through and through.” Sirius muttered miserably.   
“Things are definitely getting worse though,” James added.   
“People are scared. Whole families are being wiped out now.” Remus agreed. “My dad works for the Ministry. Nothing to do with wizards or witches, he works with creatures and he says that even they seemed to be riled up because of You-Know-Who. Even the ones that usually stay out the way of wizards.”  
However, no more disappearances meant that talk about the war died down amongst the younger years. They became preoccupied instead with the coming Quidditch season and Halloween. Four weeks after Remus’s transformation and about two weeks before Halloween, the four boys received their first detention. After the stunt they had pulled during the flying lesson, Snape had taken to glaring and muttering threats under his breath at the group. At every opportunity, when there were other Slytherins around, he had also taken to hurling insults at them, usually regarding Sirius and his sorting into Gryffindor. Eventually, the four had had enough and decided to hatch another plan to get their own back.   
After the rest of the castle had gone to bed, the four crept out of the Gryffindor common room and down to the dungeons and Slughorn’s potion classroom. With Peter keeping a lookout, Sirius, James and Remus broke into the classroom and the potions store inside. Once there, they carefully peeled all the labels from the bottles containing the ingredients that their class would be using for their herbicide potion the next day and swapped them around. They had done some considerable research over the weekend, trying to find potions which wouldn’t interact in a bad way to swap. Once they had stuck the labels back on, Sirius pocketed one final potion.   
“You two are sure this won’t blow up, right?” He asked, slightly unsure.  
“Yeah, it should be fine,” James replied airily, re-locking the potions cupboard with his wand.  
“Should?” Sirius asked a touch of urgency in his voice.  
Smiling slightly, Remus replied, “Yes, don’t worry. You won’t kill anyone!”   
Sirius relaxed a bit as they turned to leave. Voices outside the door stopped them though and they froze mid-step, looking wildly at each in panic.  
“What on earth are you doing out of bed and all the way down here, Mr Pettigrew?” Slughorn could be heard saying outside.   
“I… uh, was sleepwalking, Professor.” Peter squeaked back.   
“Really? You ought to see Madam Pomfrey about that.” Slughorn replied.   
The three boys in the classroom relaxed, relieved that he believed Peter’s excuse. Quickly, and trying to stay as quiet as possible, they slipped under the nearest bench, James putting the candles out with a wave of his wand.   
The door started to creak open as Slughorn made his way into the classroom.  
“Wait – Professor! Er… you don’t think you could take me to the hospital wing? Only, I’ve never been before and everything looks different in the dark. I wouldn’t want to get lost.” Peter’s voice was very high-pitched from nerves at this point, and the other three could definitely hear a slight shake in it, but Slughorn seemed to believe him. He sighed and closed the door.   
“I suppose it won’t take long. Very well. Follow me, Pettigrew.”   
Sirius, Remus and James waited, listening to Peter and Slughorn’s footsteps as they grew fainter down the corridor. Finally, the deemed it safe enough to leave and crept out of the dungeons and back to Gryffindor tower with their wands lit. They waited a further half an hour for Peter to return, giving him a hero’s welcome when he climbed through the portrait hole.   
“Merlin’s beard Peter, I didn’t think you had it in you!” James exclaimed, clapping him on the back.   
“Did you get a sleeping potion? We could give it to Snivellus at breakfast one morning”, Sirius said eagerly.  
“Blimey Sirius, one thing at a time!” Remus laughed.  
“You’re right,” Sirius said, looking at the potion he’d taken from the cupboard. “So, all I need to do is put a few drops of this in Snivellus’ cauldron tomorrow?”   
James nodded. “Yeah, the potions that we swapped around will be fine on their own. They’ll make everyone else’s potions less potent but harmless. When added to the potion you’ve got there, they’ll react and we’ll get sweet, sweet revenge on dear old Greasy.” He finished, rubbing his hands together theatrically.   
In potions, the next day, no one’s potion had reached the point that it should have after an hour and Slughorn was rushing around, distressed, trying to work out why. His round face was getting redder and redder and most of the class were starting to laugh at him rather than focus on their potions. Suddenly there was a huge crash next to James and Sirius as Peter knocked his and Remus’s cauldron onto the floor, winking quickly at James. The whole class turned to look at their potion as it spilt out across the floor.   
“NOW!” Hissed James to Sirius, who got up under the pretence of collecting some more ingredients from the front. As he passed Snape and Lily’s cauldron, he quickly slipped a few drops of the potion he’d taken the night before into the mixture. Straight away the potion started to fizz, the noise whirring as the potion started to bubble. Sirius jumped out of the way as Lily and Snape turned around, confused. Lily turned to Slughorn to ask for help as the potion lept out of the cauldron, splashing all over Snape and covering him, head to toe. As he tried desperately to wipe it off, his skin, hair and school robes started to turn yellow, getting brighter and brighter until he practically glowed canary yellow. Sirius stood, trying not to laugh as he looked solemnly at Snape’s furious face and Lily’s shock. The rest of the class saw and started to laugh. Snape turned orange as under the yellow his face started to turn red. Sirius looked round to share a conspiratorial grin with his friends but instead found Slughorn standing furious next to his friends, holding some of the bottles that they’d swapped the labels of.   
Sirius, Remus, James and Peter stood solemnly in front of Professor McGonagall’ desk. He lips were pursed and she was tapping her finger on her folded arm. She looked at them all.   
“I cannot believe that the four of you were so stupid. Thank Merlin that no one was hurt!”   
“Honestly Professor, we’re not idiots, we’d never have hurt anyone!” Sirius burst in.  
“Exactly, we only swopped the labels on potions that wouldn’t hurt people!” James added.   
“Am I supposed to agree with you!” McGonagall shouted. “What you did was irresponsible. And you broke Merlin knows how many rules! Wandering around at night, breaking into locked classrooms, lying to teachers… Shall I go on?” She glared at the four of them, who all meekly shook their heads. “You will all have detention this evening with Professor Slughorn, starting at 5 pm tonight and I will be writing to your parents. All of you get out of my sight.”   
The four skulked off towards the Great Hall. After a rushed tea, they then set off again towards the dungeons for their first detention. James and Sirius sulked the entire way.  
“It’s right unfair that we get detention when Snivellus did the same thing to us!” James exclaimed as he stepped out of the way of the Bloody Barron.   
“This is such a waste of time,” Sirius added as they turned the corner into the dungeons.  
“Especially when no one got hurt.” Peter moaned.   
Slughorn was waiting for them by his desk. There was a stack of cauldrons on the front row of desks.   
“Hello again, gentlemen. Tonight I’d like you all to scrub the school cauldrons that are currently on the desk here,” he said gesturing towards the pile. “There are sponges and a cleaning potion at the back. I will be back in 3 hours. If they are not all done by then you will be coming back tomorrow night.” He walked out of the classroom so fast that his robe billowed out behind him.   
“Bet the fat git’s gone for dinner,” Sirius grumbled.   
“I wish I was in dinner right now,” James replied dreamily. “We were in such a hurry to get here that I didn’t have time for pudding.”   
“You could have the cleaning potion for pudding,” Remus said.  
James scowled, “Remus, you could take this a bit more seri-!” He was cut off abruptly as a sponge was thrown at his face.   
Peter and Sirius both laughed as James threw the sponge back at Remus who caught it before it reached his face. Grinning at James he poured some of the cleaning liquid onto the sponge and started to clean the nearest cauldron. He managed to clean only half of it before another, this time bubbly, the sponge was thrown at his back. He turned to find James was standing holding two more sponges and ducked behind a desk as the next one was thrown towards him. Grinning he threw his own sponge over the top of the desk but missed and hit Peter square in the face. Peter threw it at Remus, who ducked but was caught instead by a sponge from Sirius who laughed.   
When Slughorn returned, he found that although the cauldrons were clean, the four boys were covered in shiny blue bubbles, soaking wet. He bustled about, trying and failing to tell the boys off because they had done what he’d asked. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter stood trying not to laugh as Slughorn lectured them about irresponsibility before letting them go.  
Walking back to Gryffindor tower, the four argued over who had won. Sirius and Peter had ended up on a team of two against Remus and James and none of them seemed able to agree on who had managed to throw the most sponges.   
“Y’know,” Sirius said as they got dressed in their dormitory. “I don’t know why people are so worried about detentions. That wasn’t anything bad.”  
“You’ve got a point, mate.” James agreed.   
“James and me definitely won,” Remus added before having a pillow thrown at him from Sirius.  
The next morning at breakfast though, things were decidedly less funny. A handsome, gleaming black owl arriving with the post dropped a letter in front of Sirius. It was sealed with wax and an intricate seal with the phrase ‘Toujours pur’ was pressed into it. Sirius opened it with trepidation.   
Sirius,  
We received word earlier today that you have been given detention by Minerva McGonagall, a half-blood. We were initially willing to overlook the disgrace that you brought upon the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black after you were sorted into Gryffindor. Now, however, it seems that the insult you appear to be so set upon bringing to your House and Bloodline does not end. This detention has brought shame upon our House, illustrating to your father and I that you are unconcerned with allowing others to see you as nothing but a common miscreant. This behaviour is something that we would expect from a blood traitor or a mud-blood but certainly not our own son. See that it does not happen again or there will be very serious ramifications.   
Walburga Black  
Sirius grunted, crumpling the letter up and throwing it down on the table.   
James, who had read the letter over Sirius’ shoulder frowned, “Why didn’t she sign in ‘mum’?”  
Sirius laughed humourlessly. “She refuses to acknowledge that I’m her son. She does it whenever I do something she sees as being ‘beneath the family’.”  
“Damn, that’s dark.” James gave Sirius’s shoulder a squeeze.   
“Yeah, well… I’m used to it.” Sirius poked it with the end of his wand and watched as it disintegrated into sand.


End file.
